After selecting the Chinese FD-2000 missile defense system in September of 2013 Ankara back-pedalling this decision, under European and US pressure and re-opened the bid to enable companies from Europe and the USA to improve their bids. But the deadline for those offers was January 31, 2014 – and Ankara has not received the proposals it hoped for, enabling it to opt for what Turkey consider an ‘affordable NATO friendly’ option. The new deadline for rival bidding companies to submit their proposals is April 30, allowing U.S. company Raytheon Co and Lockheed Martin Corp and Italian-French team Eurosam SAMP/T to revise their offers and try to head off the Chinese company CPMIEC. The Chinese manufacturer has been on the U.S. State Department’s sanctions list since February 2013 due to non-proliferation concerns.

Following its announced decision Ankara entered negotiations with China’s Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp. (CPMIEC), to co-produce the FD-2000 anti-ballistic missile system. Officials from Eurosam and Raytheon are in contact with the SSM from time to time, but offers from any bidders will only be examined if contract negotiations with the Chinese company fail before April 30, a Turkish official familiar with the process told the Hürriyet Daily News. The issue is expected to be on the agenda of talks during President Abdullah Gül’s visit to Italy, the official also said.